Using a farm machinery management program, machinery and related costs were estimated for six tillage systems for corn and soybeans (grown in rotation) and two soybean sowing methods on three farm sizes. Machinery and related costs for the No-till system were lowest of all systems evaluated. When herbicide, seed, and fertilizer costs were added to the machinery costs, the Disk system was least costly, followed by a Subsoil-ridge, No-till, No-till/conventional tillage rotation, Moldboard plow and Sweep Plow systems. The total input cost estimate for drilling soybeans in 25-cm (10-in.) rows was, on average, $11/ha ($4/ac) greater than planting soybeans in 76-cm (30-in.) rows. As farm size increased, machinery and labor costs per hectare decreased by approximately equal amounts for all tillage systems. Based upon nine-year average yields, estimated net returns for the Disk, Subsoil-ridge, and Conventional systems were comparable and greater than the net returns for the No-till/conventional tillage rotation, Sweep plow, and No-till systems.
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McIsaac et al. (1990) studied this question.